George westinghouse



G. WBSTINGHOUSE, Jr. ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

I Patented May 19, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE VESTINGHOUSE, JR., OE PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEELECTRO-MAGNETIC TRACTION COMPANY, OF IVASHINGTON,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEM'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,452, dated May 19,1896. Application led July 27,1895. Serial No. 557,378. (No model.)

To all whom, it may con/cern:

Be it kn own that I, GEORGE WEsTINcHoUsE, J r. a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and Y State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inElectric-Railway Systems, (Case No. 654,) of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to automatic switches Io for use in connection withelectric railways, and has particular reference to devices of thischaracter which are employed in connection with railway systems in whichexposed contacts are located at intervals along the track and are soconnected and arranged as to be energized only when thecurrent-collecting devices carried bythe car are in contact therewith.

One of the objects of my invention is to 2o provide a switch and a boxor casing therefor so constructed and arranged that the necessaryelectrical connections with the pick-up and feeding conductors will bemade by merely placing the switch-box cover or bell and the attachedswitch in position, thus doing away with all fastening means between thecover and the base and all binding-posts or other fastening devicesrequiring manipulation in order to remove the switch or the 3o cover.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the actionof the magnet upon the armature may be supplemented at the beginning ofthe movement of the lat- 3 5 ter, when the pull of the magnet thereon isweakest, and also means whereby any binding action due to unequalmovement of the two movable contacts may be obviated.

lVith these ends in view I have devised the 4o improvements shown in thedrawings and hereinafter described and claimed, which are designed foruse in connection with the electric-railway system shown and describedin the patents of Malone Wheless, No. 524:,77 3,

of August 21, 1894, and No. 534,238, of February 12, 1895, and whichconstitute improvements upon the structure covered by the said patents.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a 5o view, partially in sectionand partially in side elevation, of a switch and its inclosing casingembodying my improvements; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portionof the switch at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now in detail to the several features shown in the drawings, 1is a supporting-block which may be bolted or otherwise fastened to asuitable foundation, and 2 is the bottom of the switch-box, supportedupon and bolted to the said supporting-block 1. 6o This bottom 2consists of an elevated horizontal portion 3, provided with three hollowbosses et, projecting some distance above and below the same and alsoprovided with an upwardly-projecting flange 5,these several parts 6 5constituting a pan or receptacle which is in practice filled with someinsulating and moisture-excluding solid or semisolid-such, for example,as paraffin-wax. A flange G projects downwardly from the part 3, andjoined to it 7.o at its bottom is an external flange or ri1n 7, the twoforming a trough or channel S, which when the apparatus is in use isfilled with oil or some other suitable insulating and mois'-ture-excluding liquid. 7 5

9 is the bell or cover, provided at its lower edge with two rims orflanges 10 and 11, the former of which extends into the channel ortrough 8 and rests upon the bottom of the same, and the latter of whichextends outside 8o the rim or flange 7, preferably to the bottomthereof.

The features thus far described, while preferably employed in connectionwith my invention, form no part thereof. S5

12, 13, and 14 are pins constructed of good conducting material, theupper ends of which are preferably split, as shown, and the lower endsof which are screw-threaded and extend through the openings in the upperends of the 9o bosses 4. These pins are suitably insulated from thebosses by means of insulating sleeves and washers, as shown, and arefirmly secured in position by means of nuts 15 above and caps 16 belowthe portions of the bosses l through 9 5 which they project. The lowerends of the pins and the lower ends of the caps 16 are perforated forthe insertion of the conductors and the caps are provided with suitablebinding-screws 17. roo

the lower side of the yoke 26.

13 is a slab or plate of insulating material rigidly fastened to theupper portion of the bell. To the upper side of this slab are bolted thespools of the electromagnet, each of which has a coil 19 for the maincurrent and a coil 2O for the pick-up current.

21, 22, and 23 are metal sockets fitting corresponding perforations inthe slab 18 and fastened therein by means of binding-nuts and washers,as shown. These binding-nuts and washers are also employed to make goodelectrical connection betweenthe sockets and the feeder and pick-upconductors, as will be hereinafter more fully described. Each of thesecontact-sockets 21, 22, and 23 is provided through the major portion ofits length with a cylindrical opening of the right size to closely litthe corresponding split pin, which engages therewith. The lower end ofthis opening in each of the socket-s is flared into frusto-conicalfornrin order to insure the ready engagement of the respective pinstherewith when the bell or cover is placed in position.

24 are carbon contact-plates clamped to the slab 18 by means of boltsand clampingrings 25. v

2G is a metal yoke also bolted to the slab 1S and provided with lateralarms 27, each of which has a block 28 at its outer end provided with acylindrical opening extending vertically through the same. The yoke 26and its connected parts above described preferably constitute a singlecasting, though the parts may be separately formed and subsequentlyfastened together, if desired.

29 is a supportingbar, upon which is mounted the armature 30, and whichat its outer ends supports carbon contact-plates 31, these plates beingclamped to the supportingbar 29 by mean's of clamping-rings 32 similarto the rings 25 above described. Depending from the plate or bar 29 aretapered pins or lugs 33, which rest in and are guided by the perfrationsin the blocks 28. These tapered pins or lugs rest upon the ends of aleaf-spring 34, which is bolted at or near the middle to It will thus beseen that this spring 34 constitutes in effect two springs, one for eachend of the supporting-bar 29, each serving'- as a cushion for thecorresponding end of said bar and the parts carried by it when they dropunder the action of gravity upon the interruption of the current throughthe electromagnet. The spring also assists, by its upward pressure, inraising the bar and the contact-plates and armature during that portionof the movement when the pull of the magnet is weakest. Vhen thesupporting-bar 29 is raised by the magnet, it sometimes happens that itbecomes slightly tilted from the horizontal, and this movement wouldtend to have a binding action and thus prevent its free movement exceptfor the shape of the lugs or pins 33. lVhile this tapered form of thelugs does not prevent the tilting or rocking movement it insures freedomof the bar and its attachments toward and away from the magnet andstationary contacts.

Then the bell or cover 9 is in position, as shown in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, and the collecting-bars are in engagement with the condtact-pins projecting above the surface of the roadway, the current fromthe auxiliary source employed for picking up the armature will pass intothe connecting-pin 12, thence through the socket 21, the coils 20, thesocket 23, and pin 14, and out, thus producing a sufficient magneticiield to attract the armature and bring the movable carboncontact-plates 31 into en gagemeni with the stationary plates,

24. The insulated feeding-conductor is at all times connected with thepin 13, as indicated in the drawings, and the corresponding socket 22 iselectrically connected with one of the clamping-rings 25, as shown atthe right in Fig. 2, The other contact-plate 24, through itsclamping-ring 25 and the nut and washers shown at 35 in Fig. 1, isconnected to one terminal of the coils 19, the other terminal of thesecoils being joined to the corresponding terminal of the coils 2O andconnected by a nut and washers to the socket 23, with which the pin 14engages. lt will thus be seen that when the armature is attracted bymeans of the current sent through the coils 20 and the carbon contactsbrought into engagement the main or supply circuit will be completedfrom pin 13 through socket 22, the carbon plates 24 and 31, (shown atthe right in Fig. 2,) the supporting-bar 29, the two carbon plates atthe other side, the coils 19, socket 23, and pin 14, and thence to thereturn-conductor.

While l have illustrated and described cer- IOO tain specific details ofconstruction, I desire it to be understood that these details may bevaried as regards both the structure and the arrangement of many of theparts without departing from the spirit and scope of the in- Vention.

I claim as my invention- 1. ln a circuit-closing switch for electricrailways, an armature and contact-plates and a loosely-mounted supporttherefor provided with downwardly-projecting pins or lugs, and a springon which said pins or lugs rest.

2. ln a circuit-closer, the combination with a loosely-mounted,vertically-movable bar or plate provided with contacts and actuated in'one direction bya magnet and in the opposite direction by gravity, of aspring for supporting each end of the bar or plate when the magnet isinactive and supplementing the action of the magnet when its pull isweakest.

3. ln a circuit-closer, the combination of a stationary electromagnetand contacts, anda movable bar provided with an armature and contactsand having tapered lugs loosely tting cylindrical guiding-sockets,with aspring upon which said tapered lugs rest.

4. In a switch-box, a stationary base provided with upwardly-projectingpins insulated from said base, in combination with a IIO closeelectrical connection with the split ends of the pins when the bell isin position.

(i. A switch-box havin ga stationary bottom provided withcircuit-terminals and a protecting bell or cover carrying the switch andprovided with terminals making frictional Contact with the rst-namedterminals, the engagement of said contact-terminals and the weight ofthe cover being the sole means of attachment between the latter and thebottom.

7. The combination with an air-tight switchbox having a removable cover,of two sets of frictionally-engaging contacts supported respectively bythe stationary bottom and the removable cover, and means for connectingoutside condu ctors with said contacts through the bottom of the box,whereby the cover may be removed without disturbing said connections.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 25th day ofJuly, A. D. 1895.

GEO. VESTINGHOUSE, JR. lVit-nesses:

H. A. CRooKs, XV. G. CARR.

